Transcript of
Cervical cancer
I'm Andy Nordin. I'm a sub-specialist gynaecological oncologist.
It's a gynaecologist who specialises in looking after woman with cancer.
Cervical cancer is a cancer which develops in the neck of the womb.
The part of the womb that makes periods
is what we refer to as the uterus,
and the bottom part of the womb is called the cervix.
The cervix is the part of the womb which opens up and dilates
during labour in pregnancy.
One of the most common cancers that we look after,
that we see in women in the UK,
and elsewhere in the world a lot, in the developing world,
is cancer of the cervix.
Abnormal bleeding is the most common symptom.
Particularly bleeding after intercourse.
We call that post-coital bleeding.
If someone bleeds when they have intercourse,
that's an indication why they should go along and see their doctor,
and be referred to a colposcopy clinic
to make sure there isn't a cancer there.
Treatment for cancer of the cervix
is tailored specifically to the situation
that the woman is in, and the type of the cancer,
and, most importantly, the stage of the cancer.
The stage of the cancer is a measure of what the cancer is doing.
Whether the cancer is still confined just to the cervix,
or if the cancer has moved beyond the cervix
up into the top of the vagina or into the tissues on the side of the cervix
or across into the lymph nodes on the side of the pelvis.
Obviously, the time in hospital and the recovery time from the treatment
depends entirely on what treatments have been done.
It varies enormously.
Some treatments, for the very early stages of cancer,
may be just done as outpatient treatments.
Keyhole surgery has had an impact for women
with relatively early cancers of the cervix.
who need to have maybe a type of radical hysterectomy,
and have lymph nodes removed.
Sometimes patients can go home the next day or shortly afterwards.
Women who have radical hysterectomies through a cut in the tummy,
which is the traditional way of doing it,
would be in hospital between probably three and six or seven days.
Radiotherapy treatments are completely different.
They are done as an outpatient.
Women go along to the hospital every day for about five weeks,
and for a short treatment every day.
During that time, they probably will have a treatment of chemotherapy,
which is a medicine given through a drip
once a week during that five-week period.
Then very often at the end, it's called, external beam radiotherapy,
where they get on the couch and have their treatment.
One of the most important developments in the UK
in the last ten years
is the establishment of cancer centres around the country
working in networks.
The entire country now have the services
of gynaecological cancer centres.
And it's particularly important for women with cervical cancer,
that they are not just treated
by an individual gynaecologist in a local hospital,
but they're now referred to the specialist cancer team,
and they have access to the clinical nurse specialist
who's incredibly important as an ally,
and as a support,
and as somebody who just understands what the woman is going through.
She has the phone number of the clinical nurse specialist.
She can phone her up whenever and talk.
That's a really important thing and we're very proud of that in the UK.
